Trick or Treat Exchange

[wafflelate]

Hi, thank you for writing for me or taking a look at my letter or whatever! I'm @wafflelate.ao3 on AO3.

Um, most people looking at this probably won't need the explanation, but in case someone isn't sure what Trick or Treat is, it's a fic exchange on AO3 and you can find this year's collection here and the dreamwidth at @trickortreatex. The prompts below are for my assigned writer and anyone else who wants to write them! If you write something you should add it to the Trick Or Treat Ex collection linked above and not tell me. There was, um, some confusion about my AU Ex letter /o\ sorry for the explanation you don't need, people who came to this letter from the exchange request summary! Back to your regularly scheduled letter.

I'm very excited to participate in ToT for the first time! It might help you to know that for all of these requests I've selected these:

• Treat - Fic
• Trick - Fic
• You may ignore my Art/Fic preferences for extra gifts

...and if you are going to treat me with art, wow, thank you! I do actually really love receiving art, but I wasn't up to writing prompts for two mediums.

In terms of tricks, I'm looking for both gentle spooks and mild-to-moderate scares. I am kind of squeamish about gore and I don't really like bad ends, but I love seeing characters get into and out of trouble, and in all of my canons I'm definitely okay with canon-typical levels of violence and danger, so don't be afraid to put these characters in genuinely life-threatening situations! But overall, I'd categorize 'tricks' as anything with:

• Horror
• real or fake supernatural elements
• hurt/comfort where the hurt isn't skimped on and isn't easily solved
• action scenes/mission fic/fights where the protagonist is at a severe disadvantage
• time loops that aren't any fun
• works with a focus on angst

I think it's also worth letting you know that I can be kind of a slow commenter, often because I want to read what I've received several times over the course of several days. And, when reveals for this exchange happen, I will probably be in the middle of running nominations or sign ups for a single fandom exchange, which might take up a lot of my time. I do my best to comment before the anon period is over, though.

Here are some things I like in general:

• casefic
• minor characters
• worldbuilding
• in-universe documentation
• like mission reports or textbooks (but not really works told via letters)
• canon compliant fics (like episode tags, missing scenes, etc)
• backstory exploration
• unlikely friendships (friendship in general!)
• enemies to friends,
• friends to lovers
• friends to friends with benefits to lovers
• angst
• hurt/comfort
• protectiveness
• time travel
• canon divergence
• garbage-tier magical items
• detailed setting description

I love horror that includes:

• realizing murder is the only logical choice
• monkey's paws, ghosts (especially murderous ghosts)
• murder mysteries
• realizing that whoever or whatever it is they're looking at is not who or what they've long assumed it to be
• characters only slowly realizing that something is wrong
• doubting their own perception of reality
• not knowing who they can trust and feeling completely alone
• characters who are helpless and have to rely on someone they don't trust
  • Especially: usually powerful character is helpless due to drugs and at the mercy of someone they don't trust
• learning the truth about something and absolutely regetting it
• characters being attacked by mind controlled/brainwashed/possessed/etc loved ones and the delicious interpersonal fallout that follows
• hiding from someone or something that will definitely find you
• seemingly mundane object is surprisingly the wrong texture
• time loop - character keeps looping the day of their death
• time loop - friends and/or loved one(s) die again and again
• time loop - looping character keeps dying
• building layout changes sometimes
• two characters who don't like each other grudgingly solve gruesome murder(s) together
• two characters who don't like each other grudgingly save each other from horrific fates

For gentler spooks:

• investigating strange noises
• ghosts and other monsters who are more annoying than dangerous
• supernatural creatures with slice-of-life concerns and low-stakes threats
  • like vampires who are tired of bloodstains
  • or a a ghost who keeps making the power flicker during the character's favorite show
• garbage-tier magical items
  • that are nonetheless dangerous in their mediocrity
  • that have been possessed by a ghost or demon or whatever
• arguing about if supernatural things exist right up until they happen
• Scooby Doo-style villains who pretend to be supernatural threats
• requested characters using magic/super powers/other equivalent to spook someone for fun or profit
• reading a spell out loud to disastrous effect
• doing a spell wrong
• extremely specific but low-stakes curses

DNW

• suicide
• Shikako being in the black
• first person POV except in Animorphs fic
• ships involving Nara Shikako
• incest
• explicit sex scenes
• car crashes or people being hit by cars (a fender-bender or airplane crash would be fine though)
• zombies/the rotting undead
  • fine to mention for Castlevania or imply/reference their existence in Gravity Falls
  • please do not give any detailed descriptions),
• poly fic where only two of the requested threesome show up
  • gen about any match up is very welcome!
• permanent death of requested characters except for David, Visser Three, and Toki
  • canonical death is fine to include in stories about other characters!
  • E.g. fic about Alucard can include Lisa's canonical death.

Dreaming of Sunshine

Here's just a bunch of prompts for these characters, hopefully something seems good to you!

• Anything about Kisuke's, um, life as a ghost! What do his coworkers think? What does he think? Have he and Tsunade had any very hard or very frank talks about his post-death service? What was it like for Ibiki to get this dumped on him? Is being a ghost stuck to a seal scary? Does he trust Shikako?
• Sakura's really come into her own as a ninja, but we've yet to see her on a mission. Maybe something where Sakura has to face her fears, either alone or with the rest of Team Anko? Hurt/comfort where part of the comfort is Anko or Tsunade being proud of her for making the best of a bad situation? A time loop where Sakura is trying to heal everyone?
• Anko told Shikako that she and Aoba have been on missions behind enemy lines together and had each other's backs. I would love to see anything about that.
• Ibiki or Shikaku dealing with Hidan and/or talking about Shikako post-Hot Springs
• Gardens!Shikako or other time/dimension traveling Shikako saves Ibiki from being tortured by Rokushō Aoi
• Outside POV on Shikako being terrifying. I have a soft spot for the Rain team but anyone would be good, even fellow Konoha nin.
• Sai in any kind of horror situation sounds really great because he's got such a tight, almost perfect control over his emotions. I'd love to see him dealing with some kind of supernatural event that seems like it should be a genjutsu but definitely isn't — a maze-like forest, a house with too many rooms, etc. Kiba seems like he'd be an interesting mission partner but honestly anyone would be fun.
• (Okay, any ninja in the above situation(s) would be great, even if you don't want Sai.)
• Sasuke doesn't seem like he has much patience for Kisuke existing and I think he'd have even less patience for other kinds of ghosts. I'd love to see Hawk and his team investigate a haunting.
• If you want to do something with Sai and Shikako, a version of the Land of Birds mission with real ghosts would be so wonderful!

Shipping: In terms of ships with these characters, Anko/Aoba or Shikaku/Yoshino would be welcome but I really do love gen.

Characters:

• Haruno Sakura
• Maboroshi Kisuke
• Mitarashi Anko
• Morino Ibiki
• Nara Shikako
• Nara Shikaku
• Sai
• Uchiha Sasuke
• Yamashiro Aoba

Naruto

My need for this fandom is extremely simple: Toki is the daimyō from the Land of Birds filler who fakes her death and pretends to be her actually-dead twin by day and a vengeful ghost by night. Here's her Narutopedia page. I would love to see something where there really is a ghost in Land of Birds!

• Toki could actually be dead and the ghost is her, which a still-alive Sagi has to deal with.
• Toki could be alive and pretending to be Sagi as in canon and the ghost is Sagi or their father or, hell, both.
• I'm very here for Toki to pretend to be the ghost and then suddenly discover that there's an actual ghost.
• The original team for the Cursed Warrior Extermination Mission was Naruto, Neji, and Tenten. I would be very happy to receive those characters, but if you want to switch things up and send someone else on the mission I'd enjoy that too! Literally any Naruto character dealing with Real Ghosts in Land of Birds would be fun.

(Also, okay, I am kind of assuming all over this section that if you're looking at this you deliberately came to write me Toki + Ghost Stuff because she's a character from the filler episodes, but if you actually secretly just really want an excuse to write about her, I would be extremely excited to receive anything about a character this minor who's near and dear to your heart.)

Shipping: Whatever you want for Toki is fine, but generally I'd like romance to be a B-plot at most with the Ghost Stuff taking front stage.

Characters:

• Toki

Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate

This fandom has been the fandom of my heart since I was eight or so, and was the first fandom I ever read fic in! I would be extremely excited to read basically anything about these selected characters interacting with other characters in any way.

Some things I'm interested in in particular:

• Any kind of canon-compliant missing scenes or alternate POVs.
• Spooky things happening to the Animorphs! This fandom is great for horror.
• The three books David is in are probably my favorite ones in the whole series and I love David's tension. I would love any kind of AU exploring his interactions with the team or even something like one or more Animorph time traveling back and realizing they're going to have to deal with David a second time.
• Eva!! And Marco!!!!! I love them. What's it like for them to reconnect?
• In general I'm very interested in the post-Controller life for Eva and, if you want to not kill him off, Tom.
• For Melissa, I'd love anything about her, honest, but the creepiness of living in her house with Controller parents would be particularly wonderful. Or maybe, even, the creepiness of suddenly getting her parents back. What's it like to realize the people you've lived with for years were being controlled like that? How do the Chapmans handle it?
• Visser Three is one of my favorite villains ever. He'd obviously make a good threat for a character of your choice — I'd love to read about him being the big spook in someone else's story, no need to make him the protagonist if you'd prefer writing him as an antagonist! — but I'd also be interested in seeing what you think could spook Visser Three.

Shipping: I like all of the canon ships, but I also don't mind any other ship you want to throw in.

Characters:

• David
• Eva
• Marco
• Melissa Chapman
• Tom Berenson
• Visser Three | Esplin 9466

Castlevania (Cartoon)

This cartoon is so good. The gore is sometimes a little bit much for me but I really love all the character interactions and the worldbuilding.

...and okay I don't only want ghosts for this fandom. But all the prompts can think of are for ghosts. Ghosts probably exist in this canon, right? Ghost prompts:

• Does Lisa believe in ghosts before she gets to Dracula's castle? If she doesn't, how does she find out they're real? Are ghosts the one kind of creepy crawly that Dracula has no sway over?
• Speaker ghost stories!!! Plus I wonder if Speakers seek to help the dead as much as the living — has Sypha spent time trying to help a ghost complete its unfinished business so that it can rest? After season 2, does she drag Alucard and/or Trevor to help her deal with some ghosts?
• What do the Belmont books say about ghosts? Were they a sort of fight-physical-things-only group of monster hunters, or did they do exorcisms and stuff too?
• The ghosts of the Belmonts really aren't wild about Dracula's castle being Right There.
• The ghosts of the Belmonts are even less wild about the locals.

If you don't like ghosts, that's okay! Maybe one of these?

• Did Lisa and Camilla ever meet? Or Lisa and the other vampires!
• What kind of trouble can one get up to in Dracula's castle? Are there lurking monsters, cursed objects, books of spells, etc?
• Any kind of fix it or canon divergent AU would be great — Lisa doesn't die, the Belmonts don't get killed, etc. I'd especially love in this case to see alternate first meetings, or even Trevor and Sypha meeting Lisa.
• Trevor (with Sypha and/or Alucard maybe?) goes on a monster hunt! I would be interested both in the actual monster hunting part and in the emotions around it.

There are really a lot of great, spooky options and I definitely want them. I would really love anything pre-canon, during canon, or post-season 2.

Shipping: I like Lisa/Dracula and Alucard/Sypha/Trevor. Per my DNWs I don't want to receive Alucard/Sypha, Sypha/Trevor, or Trevor/Alucard, though — this is really an OT3 situation for me. I would love any gen match up, though!

Characters:

• Alucard | Adrian Tepes
• Lisa
• Sypha Belnades
• Trevor Belmont

Gravity Falls

This is one of my favorite shows ever! I would really love:

• canon-typical adventures ranging anywhere from silly teenage hijinx to genuinely life-threatening danger
• anything that explores the worldbuilding
• works that show characters bonding through shared adventure/trauma

I've picked four of my favorite characters and I'd love to see them teamed up with each other or with other people!

In terms of things for the characters to actually get up to:

• Mabel makes an unlikely friend! The more unlikely the better. Everyone else thinks it's a terrible idea, but it goes surprisingly well in that no one dies.
• Pacifica discovers a new ghost or other spook wherever she's living post-canon, realizes she doesn't have any of the Pines' numbers since Soos took over the Mystery Shack, panics, and finds the Corduroys in the phone book.
• There's a ghost in the Mystery Shack and Stan has been passive aggressively ignoring its spooky bullshit for 30 years. Stop giving it attention, Dipper, that's exactly what it wants.
• Wendy's dad has taught her all kinds of things about the forest, including how to tell when a deer isn't really a deer, when an injured hiker isn't really an injured hiker.
• Out on the ocean, Stan and Ford discover that sirens are complete bullshit. Dangerous bullshit, but bullshit. Maybe the ones in the Mediteranian are better than these warbling jerks.
• While Dipper and Soos are off on their own adventure, Melody has her first spooky adventure post-.GIFany with Mabel.
• During Weirdmageddon, Candy and Grenda go out of their way to help Pacifica get to the Mystery Shack. Maybe someone comforts Pacifica over her parents being jerks and also quasi-dead. Or, post-Weirdmageddon Pacifica gets into serious trouble and discovers she knows exactly who she can call.

Shipping: Gen with or without background canon ships preferred.

Characters:

• Mabel Pines
• Pacifica Northwest
• Stan Pines
• Wendy Corduroy

Yu Yu Hakusho

This is one of my favorite fandoms ever but, I am sad to say, the whole ghost thing in it is very poorly utilized! I love every arc of the story but I wish it had spent longer on detective stuff, because I really loved the parts of the manga where Yuusuke helps random ghosts move on and I also really enjoy that first demon Yuusuke captures when he comes back to life, the tiny one that was threatening Kuwabara's cat.

...so basically I really want something along those lines! Spooks that might be serious for our characters now, but are small-scale compared to what we know is coming would be perfect, but also seeing a late canon or post-canon Yuusuke handling a really simple ghost or low class demon problem just to help some folks out would be so wonderful.

• Genkai wasn't a spirit detective, but she probably got up to some stuff, right? I'd equally love something set when she was younger (even pre-Dark Tournament! Toguro welcome!) or set during or around canon.
• actually speaking of Genkai, I'd love to see her dealing with that spooky forest when she was first setting her temple.
• Shizuru has a high spiritual awareness just like her brother. Maybe she could use it to deal with ghosts? Maybe she gets caught up in some demon stuff? I'd love to see her handling things alone or teaming up with someone! Yukina, Boton, Kuwabara, or Keiko spring to mind.
• any canon-compliant missing scene(s) of Yuusuke helping ghosts or dealing with demons early in canon would just be perfect, though as discussed above I don't have my heart set on early canon.
• Keiko getting more involved in spirit detective stuff, especially as it pertains to helping ghosts feel ready to move on, would be wonderful! I guess canonically Keiko doesn't have much spirit awareness, but maybe her interactions with ghost!Yuusuke helped with that,
• In case you're interested, I requested Keiko in AU Exchange!

When it comes to the level of threat to the characters, I'm fine with whatever but I'd especially love to see Shizuru or Keiko overcoming a genuinely life threatening situation to achieve their goals.

Shipping: Gen with or without background canon ships preferred.

Characters:

• Genkai
• Kuwabara Shizuru
• Urameshi Yuusuke
• Yukimura Keiko

Person of Interest

Fusco is my favorite character on TV ever and I would just love anything about him! His redemption arc is so wonderful and his interactions with other characters are always fantastic. The only problem is that I want everything with him so bad that it's hard to pin down specific prompts... but I'll try!

• Fusco and Shaw's first meeting tragically happens off screen iirc (they actually might meet in Shaw's first episode, but during my last watch through I definitely remember thinking it's a shame we don't see the first time Fusco finds out Shaw is now part of the team) but I'd love to see it. I think Shaw is kind of spooky in a way even Reese really isn't, and also I think there's a great chance here for Fusco to be in a lot of trouble that Finch hires Shaw to get him out of.
• Lionel Fusco doesn't just believe in ghosts, he absolutely knows they're real and he hates dealing with them. But he does it. Extremely practically and with much bitching. And he doesn't bother telling anyone else; they'd never believe him.
• Lionel Fusco absolutely does not believe in ghosts and no amount of weird noises and unexplained happenings will convince him, so the universe might as well knock it off.
• Other things Lionel Fusco may/may not believe in: werewolves, vampires, demons, witches, urban legends, magic curses, fairies, etc.
• Fusco is pretty sure he's 100% exactly perfectly the wrong member of the team to be stuck in this time loop trying to save [character of your choice], but he's not a quitter. He's going to get this right.
• Post-series, Fusco sometimes gets called by the Machine and it's... creepy. It's creepy even when it's helpful. It's creepy even when hearing Root's voice is kind of comforting.
• Fusco peggy sue time travels back to an earlier point in his life. It's up to him to help change things!

Shipping: I would prefer gen but I don't mind background ships. Mostly I ship Finch/Reese and Root/Shaw but I'm not picky in this fandom so long as Fusco stars.

Characters:

• Lionel Fusco

Log Horizon

Log Horizon's mix of characterization and worldbuilding and politics is absolutely my favorite. I really love the whole cast, so I have to admit I selected my characters somewhat at random during nominations — I do really, really love all of these characters and I'm very excited by the idea of getting fic for them, but I'd absolutely love for any other member of the cast to be included. I've basically only seen the anime and am trying to work my way through the books,so I'd prefer if events past the end of the second season of the anime weren't included simply because I'll probably be confused.

In term of prompts, my needs are very simple:

• Game glitches! I think there's a lot of space to explore how Theldesia's game-ish mechanics could go wrong now that everything is real.
• I'd also love something that explores how familiar and formerly fun things becoming scary and awful now that they're real and actually physically happening to the Adventurers, even though the Adventurers still won't die permanently.
• Also, there are probably lots of in-game things that are now very horrific because they Landers are real people. When it was just a game, monthly events made sense and weren't much to think about. Of course some children in this village go missing at regular intervals! Gotta level up/get the special loot/whatever! But now that Lander are real actual people and Adventurers are living at the same time scale as them, those children go missing once a year and are real, actual children that need to be saved. Horrifying! :D
• Anything about new monsters or dungeons taking Adventurers by surprised would be wonderful too!
• Rundelhaus and/or Re-gan's POVs on things as Landers would be amazing. Are Adventurers sometimes kinda alien or supernatural? What was the day the Adventurers properly landing in Theldesia like for them?
• Outside POVs on Shiroe would be amazing, especially considering that to some Landers like Re-gan he's just like, stepped out of history book, since he's been around for something like 200 years by the Landers' count.
• I really adore the little bits of Seta Soujirou we see in the anime, especially interacting with Shiroe! Maybe he and Shiroe could take a spooky quest together or something.

Shipping: Gen preferred, but I do like Akatsuki/Shiroe and I'd be interested in trying out Shiroe/Seta Soujirou.

Characters:

• Rundelhaus Code
• Akatsuki
• Minori
• Re-gan
• Seta Soujirou
• Shiroe